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The title

Any experiences if there are any tuning apps for smartphone which are better than others, especially for brass instruments?

TIA!

I recently bought TotalEnergy Tuner and wouldn’t go back to anything else. It’s well worth the 3 or so dollars. It has a built in metronome and you can record yourself within the app.

I've been using something called "n-Track Tuner". It also will play drones, but the tone quality is kinda odd. Best thing? It's free. Another thing I like is that it will give a sort of spectral display of the note. Not terribly important for tuning but interesting nonetheless.

tunable and tonal energy are the top picks by far. I prefer tunable myself, but...

I prefer to just use a physical Korg tuner, and keep the phone away from my practice for less distraction. The farther my phone is, the better and more productive I am.

Burgerbob wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 9:49 am tunable and tonal energy are the top picks by far. I prefer tunable myself, but...

I prefer to just use a physical Korg tuner, and keep the phone away from my practice for less distraction. The farther my phone is, the better and more productive I am.

I guess there's the generation gap at work. I don't live on my phone, even though I use it for more things than a lot of folks of my generation (Baby Boomers). I can have a tuner on the phone and it's useful. I also use the timer. But I don't spend a lot of time texting or playing games on it. Full disclosure: I own 3 Korg tuners and have used them as well.

I use iStroboSoft (https://www.petersontuners.com/products/istrobosoft/) for tuning on my iPad, paired with a RØDE directional mic (https://rode.com/en/microphones/mobile/videomic-me-c). My iPad has USB-C, but RØDE also makes a version with Apple's lightning connector (https://rode.com/en/microphones/mobile/videomic-me-l), as well as a version with a 3.5mm connector (https://rode.com/en/microphones/mobile/videomic-me). I find the unidirectional mic is helpful when tuning in an ensemble, but the phone/tablet omnidirectional mic works pretty well if you're tuning in a practice room/studio.

iStroboSoft costs a bit more than TonalEnergy, but it's produced by Peterson, and I like the familiar strobe display. For drones, I use the Drone Tuner app (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/drone-tuner/id1326016622).

TonalEnergy is a marvelous app for tuning. It has many features that I wished I'd had a long time ago. Check out some YouTube videos about the features and how to use them. (DRONES!!! )
I've always had pretty good ears, but MAN that app took them to the next level!

iStroboSoft is also great. It's probably the best if you want a visual display of your pitch. I've come to prefer using my ears with drones, but ISS certainly comes in handy for spot checks.

It's not a tuning app, but Politonus is also absolutely indispensable, IMO. Serious musicians who aren't using an ear-training app are doing themselves a disservice - ESPECIALLY jazz musicians!

DaveAshley wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 11:22 am It's not a tuning app, but Politonus is also absolutely indispensable, IMO. Serious musicians who aren't using an ear-training app are doing themselves a disservice - ESPECIALLY jazz musicians!

This was new to me. I've used GoodEar in the past, but this looks more useful.

--Andy in OKC

Are any of these war training apps voice controlled?

Burgerbob wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 9:49 am I prefer to just use a physical Korg tuner, and keep the phone away from my practice for less distraction. The farther my phone is, the better and more productive I am.

I have been using Cleartune. It is either free or cheaper than dirt. It does everything I need it to.

There was a neat app called Flutini, but it looks like it’s defunct now.

http://www.novasession.org/flutini.html#.YvFE7S9lCfA

It would record while you played, and then give a read out of what you played. You could get info like your E2’s were 60% in tune, 30% were flat, and 10% were sharp. I’ll see if I can find a current version.

Does anyone know of any current apps like this?

If you browse Fdroid.org (android only, sorry) you can find a variety of tuners with differing interfaces, as well as other stuff useful to musicians;

Semitone - tuner-metronome-piano, Rehearsal - recorder, Audio - audio spectrum display, Wavepad - audio file editor, Practice Hub - Tuner-Metronome-Drone, Cythara - Tuner, Tunerly - tuner, Tuner - strobe-style tuner, numerous metronome apps.

Real Time Tuning Analysis (RTTA) is the app that replaced Flutini. Here is a link that describes the app: http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/RTTA.htm

You’ll find links at the bottom of the page for iPhones and Android.

I think others have recommended it already, but my favorite is Tonal Energy. It’s simple and has a ton of nice features. The only downside is the $3.99, but I think it’s worth.

Burgerbob wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 9:49 am tunable and tonal energy are the top picks by far. I prefer tunable myself, but...

I prefer to just use a physical Korg tuner, and keep the phone away from my practice for less distraction. The farther my phone is, the better and more productive I am.

I use an old phone with no sim card inside, so there is not more distraction as with an physical tuner. Also there is no possibility to load advertising.
The tuner I prefer is called pano tuner, quite fine visual apperance, not with a needle, more like a band speedometer so you can gliss without the gap from one tone to the next.

These days I'm in general agreement with Aidan about distractions. My practice sessions already look like Short Attention Span Theatre. The clip-on tuner I have been using was recommended elsewhere; I think in a different TromboneChat thread. It is a d'Addario 'cello and bass tuner supposedly better attuned to low notes. It seems to discern my grungy bass trombone pedals and double-trigger notes better than others I've tried:



It uses the ubiquitous single CR2032 coin cell for power. I compared it to three different generations of Korg tuners, a handful of "Fender" labeled chinese imports, a Seiko clip-on, and numerous Android apps installed on a Samsung S10E phone. YMMV - Cheers.

I like APTuner on my iPhone, a free strobe tuner that hasn’t let me down.

I use "Tuner T1" on Android. Visual feedback looks like a sideways ECG, great for making sure vibrato is even.

heldenbone--

I just received my d'Addario cello/bass tuner and it doesn't appear to be chromatic. Turns out the Snark tuner I bought it to replace wasn't broken after all (just wounded), so unless the d'Addario is fully chromatic, back it goes.

I've only tried the tuner in the IMSLP app, but was not impressed. It failed to even identify the note I was playing, let alone show pitch tendencies. I dunno if the problem is in the app, in the phone, or in my tone.

I am using 'tuner t1' and it's great

LanceHandsome wrote: ↑Tue Apr 01, 2025 8:09 pm heldenbone--

I just received my d'Addario cello/bass tuner and it doesn't appear to be chromatic. Turns out the Snark tuner I bought it to replace wasn't broken after all (just wounded), so unless the d'Addario is fully chromatic, back it goes.

Snark is still the best one. You can clip it on the bell or the slide crook connection point, and the head rotates so you can see it clearly. And you can see your pitch no matter how noisy everyone is around you.

meliant wrote: ↑Fri Sep 23, 2022 10:56 am I think others have recommended it already, but my favorite is Tonal Energy. It’s simple and has a ton of nice features. The only downside is the $3.99, but I think it’s worth.

I remember paying about $80 for a digital tuner. You could pay more then too. I still use an old Korg TM model that needs a squeeze now and then for it to be audible. I have TE on my phone but prefer a small Korg that clips on to the bell and runs on a single AAA battery.

Tonal Energy: https://www.tonalenergy.com/

Also RTTA, as above: https://www.mcgee-flutes.com/RTTA.htm